TSIBAMS Chapter 125
by VolareThe car stopped outside a village with few people and lights. The three of them, each with a flashlight, walked towards the hillside.
Normally, people who have done enough research would arrive at the stargazing spot before sunset, then set up their tents, have a meal, and set up their tripods to wait.
But these three people had not planned this short trip at all. Ye Xing was even temporarily pulled in to make up the numbers.
As they walked, Shuai Xiaoyun became a little scared, “I don’t know when we’ll be able to climb up there, and I don’t know if there will be any unknown creatures in this wilderness. Should we go back to the car?”
Ye Xing didn’t miss the chance to tease her, “Just say you’re scared.”
“Xiaoyun has a point,” Lu Yueyang, who was leading the way, stopped, “Actually, you can already vaguely see the Milky Way from where we got out of the car, it’s just that we have the flashlights on and our eyes haven’t adjusted yet.”
As soon as the class teacher spoke, Ye Xing immediately surrendered, “Okay, the minority follows the majority, let’s go back.”
The villagers in this remote mountain area had no nightlife and went to bed early. The three of them found a clear lawn near where they parked, spread out a large picnic cloth, and lay down on it.
Then they turned off their flashlights and closed their eyes to adapt to the darkness.
They were too tired.
Ye Xing closed his eyes and barely had the strength to open them again.
From getting up early in the morning to rush to the exam hall, exhausting countless brain cells taking the test, to embarking on the road to Chen Town, and finally magically arriving at this most remote place he had ever been, the day had been too long, as if racing against time and the sun. Even Kuafu, the giant who chased the sun, would have a day when he collapsed, let alone himself, who was just an ordinary person.
He didn’t know how long it had been when he heard Shuai Xiaoyun exclaim in surprise.
The exclamation seemed to be in a dream, Ye Xing swallowed, not paying attention.
“I heard Qi Guang say you have a single-lens reflex camera, it’s a pity you didn’t bring it,” It was still Shuai Xiaoyun’s voice.
He didn’t know which word woke Ye Xing up, he suddenly opened his eyes.
Before he could even adjust to the environment, a vast sea of stars fell into his eyes without any warning, and he was so shocked that he couldn’t speak.
The stars danced across the sky, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, layer upon layer.
The North Star, the brightest star that he could usually recognize, was now impossible to find for a moment.
Although they hadn’t reached the best observation point, they could still see a thin layer of the Milky Way stretching across the sky, faintly glowing with white and purple light. If you looked closely, you could even recognize more colors.
Ye Xing was so excited that he was almost speechless, wishing his eyes would instantly turn into a single-lens reflex camera, recording the shock of this moment.
After a long while, he sighed regretfully, “It is a pity, I used to study how others took good pictures of the Milky Way. I didn’t expect that I would finally have the opportunity to see it, but I can only look at it.”
Shuai Xiaoyun held up her phone and randomly pressed several pictures against the sky, “It’s okay, Qi Guang will bring you here again.”
“Next time, it’s best to come earlier, set up a tent before sunset, and spend the night directly on the hillside,” Lu Yueyang seriously suggested.
Ye Xing was lying on the outer side, with Shuai Xiaoyun in the middle. He turned his head to look at her, still not understanding what she meant by what she had just said.
Shuai Xiaoyun felt his gaze and smiled, “Qi Guang told me about this place. He said that when you come back next time, he would bring you to see the stars. Although I brought you to see them this time, it leads to the same result, in any case, our classmate Ye Xing saw the stars.”
Ye Xing tried hard to restrain his desire to swear, gritting his teeth, “You, this elder sister…”
“Forgot you kids are very particular about a sense of ritual…then what should we do? You’ve already seen it, why don’t you close your eyes and go to sleep now, and forget what you just saw first?” Shuai Xiaoyun said innocently.
Ye Xing had no way to deal with her, and could only sigh helplessly, “Sister Xiaoyun, at least in my heart you are considered a goddess-level figure, how come I’m only discovering today that your mouth is so chatty?”
Lu Yueyang laughed on the side and put on her headphones, “You two kids continue to argue, just pretend I don’t exist.”
Everyone knew about the matter between Qi Guang and Ye Xing, but they all tacitly understood it, and she, as a class teacher, was there, which would more or less prevent the conversation from continuing. Although she didn’t care at all about whether her students were having early relationships, or whether they were dating boys or girls.
“Classmate Ye Xing, it’s rare that we’ve chatted alone like this,” Shuai Xiaoyun folded her hands behind her head and looked at the stars in the sky.
“Huh? Wait,” Ye Xing glanced at her, “I don’t have that sense of ritual.”
Shuai Xiaoyun ignored his retaliatory tone and said to herself, “Do you know why I was so ruthless in sending Qi Guang to S City?”
“Hey!” Ye Xing moved his body, found a comfortable position and continued to admire the starry sky, “For the sake of earning money, I guess. At the moment, out of the few of us, he’s the poorest. I understand, after all, going to college is also an expense, and the cost of living in a big city can’t be compared with this place. I wouldn’t fall out with him because of this, you can rest assured.”
Shuai Xiaoyun did not praise his “tolerance” instead she asked, “Do you really think he’s short of money? The cost of your training at the art studio last year, and the money for you to take over the cafe, these are not small sums, how did he get them out without saying a word?”
Ye Xing was suddenly stunned.
“What do you mean? Wait, I’m a little confused, our cafe? Isn’t that Li Ke’s money?”
Shuai Xiaoyun turned her head, looking at him noncommittally.
“Damn!” Ye Xing suddenly realized and smacked his forehead, “No wonder he didn’t say he had money to lend me at first. After helping me contact Qi Guang, he suddenly transferred the money to me, and said that there was no rush to pay it back… Am I an idiot? At that time, I was only focused on having a cold war with Qi Guang, and never thought…”
Shuai Xiaoyun was amused by his self-reproaching stupidity, turned her head and continued to look at the starry sky, and sighed, “My silly younger brother is like that, even if you might not know what he has done, he didn’t do these things to make you feel touched. But as his sister, or rather, as an observer, I’ve always wanted to chat with you about it.”
“That money is from his father?” Ye Xing asked.
“Yeah, you should also know that ever since his father contacted him last year, he would occasionally give him some small favors to attract him to go home. But this kid, Qi Guang, hates his dad to the bone, he feels like his hands will get dirty if he receives that money. Do you remember the first time his dad came to us, he left a passbook at Qi Guang’s house, Qi Guang wasn’t even willing to touch it, I was the one who cleaned it up into the cabinet… Later, I knew that once he sent you to the art studio, he also went to Mr. Qi’s house for a meeting, and received another sum of money. As a result, he used it to pay your tuition, I thought he had a hard bone, tsk tsk.”
“Sister Xiaoyun, stop scolding…it sounds like you are scolding Qi Guang…”
“Actually, I’m scolding you, that’s right, I’ve long wanted to scold you, this brat who doesn’t know how blessed he is!”
“Then stop for a while, give me some time to feel bad.”
“When he made those decisions, it was no easier than you feel now.”
“…”
Ye Xing didn’t say anything for a long time, and Shuai Xiaoyun couldn’t help but look over at him again. His sentence “give me some time to feel bad” didn’t seem like a joke. He just saw him covering his eyes with his hands, not saying a word, seemingly trying hard to control his breathing.
This scene made Shuai Xiaoyun a little at a loss, she laughed dryly and said, “Alright, don’t mind it, Qi Guang said you’re a pro at arguing, so I didn’t hold back, it seems your fighting power is just so-so.”
Who knew Ye Xing didn’t argue back, he said in a muffled voice, “I surrender, you can say everything you want to say today.”
Shuai Xiaoyun was a little surprised, it seemed like what she said just now really struck a chord with him.
Ye Xing opened his mouth again, “By the way, what did you mean by asking me at the beginning if I knew why you sent Qi Guang to S City today?”
“Because I knew that even if he didn’t go to S City, he would come to find you,” Shuai Xiaoyun said, “But I wanted to verify what you would do.”
Ye Xing’s shoulders were shaking slightly, and Shuai Xiaoyun almost thought he was about to cry, but then the former couldn’t help but laugh a few times, “You’re so childish.”
“Tch—” Shuai Xiaoyun relaxed and said in a deliberately indifferent tone, “You broke up on New Year’s Day, and the day after you left, Qi Guang got acute gastroenteritis. He’s always been very healthy, and never had any stomach problems, but that day, he was vomiting and having diarrhea, with dizziness, and he had to go to the toilet every so often. In the end, he went to the hospital and had three days of IV drips. Did anyone tell you?”
Ye Xing’s shoulders stopped shaking, and he listened to her quietly.
“He’s stubborn, looking like he’s more carefree than anyone else. I understood him only to know what he had become like during that time. Depressed, unwilling to meet people. Every time I asked him out to get some fresh air, he said he had to study, but he wasn’t even close to surpassing the top student of the grade.”
Shuai Xiaoyun sighed, “lamenting his misfortune but angering him for not striving”, and then continued to speak.
“Do you always feel that he’s very heartless? I’m telling you these things partly hoping that you two will see the previous events clearly and also hoping that you won’t blame him for breaking up with you before. His heart is softer than anyone else.”
“You’re not blaming me for not knowing how blessed I am now?” Ye Xing’s hands were still covering his eyes, and he rubbed his eyelids lightly at an unnoticeable speed.
“You also ran to find him right after the exam, didn’t you? Don’t think I didn’t see you, brat.” Shuai Xiaoyun kicked him, and when she saw that he didn’t respond, she looked over again and exclaimed as if she had discovered a new continent, “Yo, what happened to you? Are you crying?”
“You’re the one crying! I’m going to sleep!” Ye Xing turned around irritably, completely isolating himself from her.
“Go to sleep, go to sleep, it’s best if you forget about the starry sky you saw today after you wake up, so that Qi Guang won’t come to settle the score with me when he finds out.”
According to the address and contact information Shuai Xiaoyun gave him, Qi Guang successfully found the house of this new “sugar daddy” and got along well with the little girl. He not only handled it with ease but also made it educational. When he left, the whole family sent him to the gate of the community with reluctance.
It must be because he gained experience tutoring Ye Xing usually that this time when he tutored the little girl he didn’t feel any strange feeling at all, and the other party didn’t seem as autistic as Shuai Xiaoyun had said.
Of course, it seemed that this credit was attributed to the parents for their good guidance.
After getting into the taxi, Qi Guang looked at the time, it was already noon. He didn’t care about being hungry, he was just thinking about rushing home and connecting to the wifi, connecting to the world of those people he had lost contact with.
Especially that bastard Ye Xing, who might have found a place to throw a tantrum and come to question him.
But at this moment, he didn’t feel a trace of burden, even if there was one, it was a sweet burden.
In the midsummer days, the scattered sunlight projected on the road through the plane tree leaves was also as scorching as firelight. The noisy cicadas praised the season with their voices, Qi Guang’s T-shirt was soaked with a thin layer of sweat, and for some unknown reason, his heart began to beat faster at this moment.
The car drove through the streets like a wave.
In the streets and alleys, there were old women carrying vegetables, walking out of the market, there were people from out of town holding maps, trying to find their way, there were also children who didn’t do well on the test, following their parents uneasily, and there were also young men who had just graduated, still looking like students, holding their resumes and walking alone, murmuring something to themselves.
Dust rolled in the air, and the world was running in an orderly manner.
Each person was playing their roles and each person had different frequencies in the same space-time, they did not interfere with each other, they were happy individually, they did not know when they would intersect, and when they would separate.
The past was vague, but the future had traces.
The traffic was smooth, and the car stopped steadily outside the gate marked with five golden characters that said “Seattle Garden.”
Even with his eyes half-closed, Qi Guang was almost blinded by these words. It was as if he was bewitched, he pushed the car door open in a hurry without saying a word.
Just when he was about to jump out of the car, he found that there was nowhere to land – under the car door was a tire, to be precise, a tire from a shared bicycle, which was still weakly turning.
If he hadn’t misheard, there was indeed a howl mixed in with the cicada sounds.
Damn…he hit someone!
It was at this moment that he realized that he hadn’t looked back before opening the car door.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Qi Guang tiptoed out of the car, and while apologizing, he squatted down and helped the person on the ground up.
“Damn you-your-grand-daddy!”
The person on the right leg still stuck to the ground did not appreciate it, pushing Qi Guang away, making a gesture to jump up and duel.
Qi Guang frowned when he heard the voice.
After seeing the other party’s face clearly, his eyes widened.
The person on the ground, rather than being hit by him, he was more willing to believe had fallen from the sky, like a gift from the heavens, which was pleasing.
“Ye Xing!”
“Damn?”
Ye Xing, whose right hand was supporting the curb, was shocked, and without caring about the scalding on his hand, he looked up in the direction of the voice.
The afternoon sun shone down so directly that it almost blinded him. And the figure in front of him, with Qi Guang’s outline, reached out his hand towards him again.
He breathed a sigh of relief, smiled brightly, and also stretched out his hand to clasp it.